Wonder Woman #20 Review

WONDER WOMAN #20
Written by Gail Simone
Art by Aaron Lopresti

This issue marks the beginning of the four part, Ends of the Earth, storyline. To be frank, I'm not sure what's going on in this issue, but I like it.

We begin with Wonder Woman in her winter garb, making her way through the harsh winter climate searching for the Mead Hall. She is beign followed by wolves, which she is forced to put down before finally entering the hall. In this winter waste land, she does not have her powers, but is still quite formidable.

There, she encounters Beowulf, the man she is looking for. It just so happens he is looking for Grendel in this place and it leads them to butting heads before agreeing to put their differences aside and teaming up against the other hall inhabitants, who all happen to be Grendel supporters.

Meanwhile, it cuts to Diana Prince at her job, six hours prior to the Beowulf encounter. She's been promoted by her boss, Director Steel, but he seems to have suspicions about her ability to survive encounters that would normally kill a person. I'm not sure if he knows she's Wonder Woman, but it's surprising how a pair of glasses can mask your identity in the DCU.

After the promotion, Diana and her friend, Etta Candy, celebrate over lunch before returning to her office, where the red eyed man from earlier issues is waiting. He has a sword, which Diana easily takes from him and knows she is Wonder Woman. He's not there to fight her and offers to let her use her lasso on him to see the truth.

What happens next is a bit odd, even for someone like me who knows very little about Wonder Woman. She goes almost catatonic and, in some panels that cut to her inner pysche, we learn that the man, known as Stalker, has no soul and Diana is trapped in an empty void of darkness. Etta grabs the lasso and enters this void and helps bring Diana back from the abyss, but she still remains in shock afterwards. Stalker then reveals that Diana isn't strong enough to do what he wants and has helped remove her compassion so that she can help him kill D'Grth, otherwise known as the Devil. Not sure if this is Neron in the DCU or not.

Verdict - Check It. The art was excellent and I especially enjoyed Wonder Woman's arctic attire and the entire Beowulf section. The entire issue, while a bit confusing as to how or why she was searching for Beowulf didn't bother me so much as it made me want to find out more, which is a good thing. I'm not sure if this whole kill the devil routine will end up being a great story or not, so I left this as a tentative Check It, despite enjoying the issue a great deal.

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